"This creates an opening for an interesting replacement alongside Verstappen and Lulham. Reportedly, the team is considering several options, with one notable name making the rounds: Alex Palou.

The IndyCar superstar is said to be a candidate to join the team in Portugal and is available, as the IndyCar season will be long over by then.

Verstappen himself is said to have expressed a preference for Palou as the third driver. Whether that wish will actually be granted remains unclear for now. "

Other tidbits:

AJ Foyt Racing: Still expected to sign Josh Pierson (currently 12th in Indy NXT) for a seat.

Meyer Shank Racing (#66 Car): Mick Schumacher is expected to be confirmed for the #66 seat in the coming weeks, with an announcement potentially coming as early as Laguna Seca.

MSR / Honda 2028 Charter Entry: MSR and Honda considering Yuki Tsunoda, Kakunoshin Ohta, and Linus Lundqvist for their proposed 2028 charter entry. All three drivers are expected to test the upcoming IR-28 chassis.

IR-28 Testing Update: On track to conduct its first oval test later this month, possibly as early as next week.

During the delay, Jack interviewed Dave. They seem to have a genuine rapport which I like because I’m a huge fan of Dave and I like Jack on track and in the pit.

But at one point, Dave asked Jack when he is going to the booth and then said something like “I’ve heard some things” and “I made some calls.” He sounded like he knew something. Jack seemed uncomfortable and when they went back to the booth, no one said anything about it.

Did anyone else catch that?

Only 11 points ahead of a pay driver and way behind your teammate leading the championship should be unacceptable. I know I’ll get downvoted but Dixons results this year and even last year wouldn’t fly in any other Motorsport

Man I saw sitting in the rain for hours waiting on Saturday.

Ted Horn was horrifically unlucky with the era in which he drove champ car. His debut was at age 25 in 1935, where he was an Indy 500 only entry. None of the subsequent seasons from 1936-1941 held more than 4 races due to being sandwiched between the Great Depression and WWII. Obviously there wasn’t a lot of time or money to be spent on automobile racing, so none of the drivers in this era got to even start very many races. Horn was consistently near the top of the standings in these years, but didn’t manage to get a championship. He did, however, grab two championships in Midwest Big Car, another series sanctioned by AAA with a lot of the same competitors as ChampCar, so he was clearly a very capable driver at this time, had he had full length seasons to race in.

ChampCar was then suspended for 4 consecutive seasons in the early 40s for WWII. For reference, by 1946, Ted was 36 years old, 11 years after his debut, and the maximum number of races he could’ve possibly started was 24. And to put it further into perspective, most drivers peak in their early to mid 30s. Ted Horn was unable to start a single race from ages 32-35.

ChampCar returned in 1946 with a whopping 77 race schedule. Ted Horn won the championship with a whopping 16 wins. Horn went on to win the 1947 and 1948 championships in dominant fashion, becoming the first ever driver to win 3 in a row.

His tragic death occurred in the 1948 season finale in a wreck, and he passed away at just 38 years old. 13 years from his first race to his last, and he is only officially considered by the IndyCar Historical Record Book to have started in 71 races in his career with 24 wins and 49 podiums. That’s a nearly 34% win rate, which is the highest of any driver with at least 50 career starts. Higher than Foyt, Andretti, Unser, Palou, Dixon, you name it. It’s a 69% podium rate, again, higher than any other driver with a minimum of 50 starts.

Truly a what if story. Had racing not been in such a difficult financial period in the 30s, had World War II not interrupted racing in the 40s, and had he not died in 1948, who knows how much more he would be recognized today.

According to this article Pato O'Ward is signed to McLaren until after the 2027 season.

Supposedly McLaughlin's contract ends at the same time. If McLaughlin is not retained by Penske and Pato does not sign with McLaren - would it make sense if Penske goes after Pato? Would do you think? I know McLaren is Pato's team but he's been there for nearly a decade and they're not closer to winning the Indy 500 or the championship even after years of trying. Maybe Pato would like to try somewhere else and see how green the fields are over there.